


Daughter of Spring

by craftingkitten



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Family, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 01:29:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15474480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/craftingkitten/pseuds/craftingkitten
Summary: The Heiress of the Fire Nation learned about the backstory of her name.





	Daughter of Spring

“Mommy, why am I called Izumi?” her round, golden eyes gleaming with curiosity. Her mother greets her gaze with a soft smile.

“That’s a good question.” She motions her daughter to sit on her lap and the invitation is gladly accepted. A faraway look drips from her eyes and a faint pink hue paints her mocha skin. “It started with the water fountain in your grandmother’s garden.”

It all started with the water fountain.

That day, she had to attend a meeting with representatives from all over the nations to discuss trade-related matters, here at the Fire Nation royal palace. Toph was there too, which made the solid rock expressions of the more senior representatives look less intimidating.   She had been the face of the Southern Water tribe for three years then and this type of meeting was not her first, yet the tingling in her stomach still came each time.

“His Majesty, the Fire Lord!”

A soft rumble echoed through the meeting hall as everyone got up from their seats. The young Fire Lord nodded curtly, acknowledging the attendees. Such a simple gesture, but it was enough to create a thunder inside her. As natural as breathing, the crowd proceeded to make way for him. His dark red robe billowed behind his tall stature and the golden crown sitting on his mahogany topknot gleamed like flame as he made his way towards his seat. At that moment, it was hard for even her, who had witnessed and faced his darkest side, to believe that he was once a lost, quivering boy. It took all her might not to let her gaze to be glued to him.

Unbeknowst to her, it was the same for him as well.

Even in the crowd he stil searched for her blue, fiery orbs. When the discovery was made, his heart fluttered like a wind chime blown by summer breeze.

Meanwhile, a wicked, teasing grin had formed on a certain earthbender’s face.

 “Let us begin.” The Fire Lord’s voice echoed through the hall.

\--

“And what do you plan to do if there isn’t enough interest from the citizens?” The husky voice of the Ba Sing Se’s representative dropped to the floor, creating an echo.

“That’s another bridge to cross. First, we have to find a better way to transport the goods so they will arrive undamaged.” Katara retorted confidently.

“Do you have any idea what the option might be?” Another member of the crowd chimed in. His voice pulled Zuko's nerve with its condescending tone. 

Katara drew a deep breath, trying to control a frown that threatened to show on her face “Not yet, but I’ll find out as soon as possible. I have other members of the Southern Water Tribe council looking into it as well.”

The Ba Sing Se representative raised his barely visible eyebrow “How _soon_ will it be?”

A crease grew on Zuko’s glabella, but before his anger could escape, Toph slammed her hand on the table. Her crisp voice cut through the the hall “Hey there, old man! Finding solutions is what this meeting was supposed to be about, not finding problems in every suggestion, isn’t it?”

A sea of widened eyes and shouts drowned all sensibility. Katara threw a mocking smile to the crowd and Zuko quickly replaced his smirk with an expression as solid as a rock.  “My Lords and Ladies, please. ” He got up from his seat “I believe today’s meeting has come to an end. We will continue on another day.”

Before anyone could protest, the Fire Lord had already abandoned his post.     

\--

The three long-time friends made their way out of the grand palace, where the meeting was held, and marched towards Lady Ursa’s garden, a place where Zuko had become a refugee at.

“Grrrr... If I were you, I’d wrapped each and every one of those old geezers with a wall of rock and knock some sense into their thick skulls!” Toph threw a punch into the air, her teeth clenched.

“Well, I’m glad _you_ aren’t the Fire Lord!” Zuko looked at the blind bandit with amusement. ‘ _Besides her height, she really hasn’t changed at all!_ ’ he mused. By then, the petite earthbender was nearly as tall as Katara, who once towered above her like dandelion over the needle-like grass that it grows around.  And as he was comparing their height difference, his gaze remained on the waterbender walking next to him, noticing how strikingly blue her eyes looked underneath the long brown lashes, her defined cheekbones that chiselled her pre-pubescent face away, and her lips that had become as full as a blossoming flower.

“I’m sure you’ve wished you could’ve done something like that!” Katara’s voice violently pulled him out of his reverie. His eyes frantically searched for something else to look at when he sensed that she was going to make eye contact, but half-way towards his escape, his molten lava orbs were frozen by ocean blue ones. Shades of pink were mapped all over their complexion when their gazes met.

He tore his eyes away from her “Yeah, many times!”

They arrived at the garden and Zuko pointed to the weeping willow tree by the water fountain “Let’s go sit over there.”

Toph threw herself onto the carpet of grass beneath the tree. The earthbender closed her eyes, her arms tucked underneath her jet black bun. “Ok, good night!”

“It’s nice to be able to just sit here and clear your mind.” Katara spoke along with the gentle breeze. She extended a hand and bended the water running down the fountain. The water followed her hand like waves following the wind’s direction, swaying back and forth, kissing the edges of the fountain.

“It’s always been a habit of yours, bending the water whenever there is some!” Zuko said. His gaze glued to the dancing water. Her heart leaped upon hearing such remarks. To her, a body of water had always been like a cat-owl begging to be stroked by its owner.

 _He noticed all along?_ The thought caressed her cheeks, inviting a shade of pink to appear on them. “Of course it’s a habit of mine! I’m a waterbender!” She replied coolly despite her quickening heartbeat. 

A grumble escaped from Toph’s lips as she shot up into a sitting position “Oh you two, just kiss already!”

The dancing water turned to splashes, widened blue and golden eyes shone on her face like a spotlight. “ _WHAT?!_ ” Katara and Zuko said in unison.

“Quit it, there’s no use lying to an earthbender! Both of your heartbeats go crazy when you’re together!” A sigh escaped her lips “Stop being so stubborn and admit that you like each other already! You both aren’t with anyone anyway!”

Yes, they both had separated from their respective partners. Their relationships were the price that they had to pay to re-build the nations after the long war. It had hurt so much at the time, but the wound healed eventually and they both carried on with their lives, as most people do.

“W – well, is – is  that true then?” A shade equal to a ripe tomato danced on Zuko’s face. It cost him a great deal of stubborn pride to search for Katara’s gaze. His heartbeat once again grew rampant upon seeing that her cheeks were equally flushed. The arches above her eyes were furrowed; her gaze was anywhere but on him.

That was it. The mighty Sugar Queen was defeated. The crease on her glabella grew deeper “I. . . I guess.”

Toph threw her arms into the air “ _FINALLY!_ Easy wasn’t it?” She once again claimed the grass as her bed “Now, go away and make out somewhere else!”

“ _TOPH!_ ” The pair warned the earthbender, which invited a face-splitting grin to appear on her face.         

\--

Wide eyed, the golden eyed girl looks up at her mother. Her eyes dripping with a mixture of awe and amusement “Toph really did that?”

A sheepish smile takes a hold of Katara’s lips, an expression Izumi has never seen before “Yes, my dear, she really did that.”

\--

Three years after the confrontation by the water fountain, Tui and La blessed the Fire Nation with an heiress. Zuko and Katara thought it would be fitting to name their daughter Izumi, for not only was it by the fountain that Toph had forced them to let their pride go, but also because it was during spring that the two opposite nations were joined through marriage. A union that laid a path for the unification of the four nations, and the birth of a new one: Republic City.

\--

Izumi cradles her head into Katara’s embrace “I better thank her because she was the reason why you and daddy are my mommy and daddy.” Her voice embraces her mother with its innocence.

“Yes, you’re right. We better thank her.”

xx


End file.
